


Penumbra

by Anonymous



Category: Magia Record: Puella Magi Madoka Magica Side Story
Genre: Angst, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Angst with a Happy Ending, Couch Cuddles, Couch Sex, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Cum-fort Writing Contest, Lucid Dreaming, Polyamory, Porn With Plot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-18
Updated: 2020-12-18
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:33:51
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,930
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28156134
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: The Wings of the Magius have been disbanded, their crimes answered, and the magical girls of Kamiahama are living in a form of peace. But Mifuyu continues to find herself questioning every step she takes, shackled not by her family or her fate but by her own guilt and self-doubt. Feeling alone even among friends, she questions her worth and finds herself lacking. And yet, Tsukuyo and Tsukasa, the girls that she's given so much for, disagree - and set out to answer Mifuyu's burning doubt themselves.
Relationships: Mifuyu Azusa/Tsukuyo Amane/Tsukasa Amane
Comments: 2
Kudos: 10
Collections: Anonymous





	Penumbra

The ceiling fan turned around and around, repeating the same cycle. Around and around, never stopping or slowing down. Again and again, ever the same course.

And if that course was the wrong one, then it would keep repeating that same mistaken cycle ad infinitum.

“...-ou okay?”

Mifuyu shook herself out of her thoughts, shifting in her position on the sofa to catch Tsukuyo’s expectant look. She scrambled for a moment for what the other girl had been saying. “I’m fine,” she lied with a smile. “Just a little tired. I was up late studying last night.” That part was true, at least. She couldn’t afford to waste the chance that Touka had given her with this pharmaceutical program, and she’d been pushing herself to keep up with her courses.

“Make sure you get enough rest,” Tsukasa told her, poking out from behind her sister. “Otherwise you’ll burn out and crash, and you don’t want that.” She was speaking from experience, Mifuyu knew. Too many days had Tsukasa spent taking on more work than she could bear in her father’s household.

“I’ll rest up,” Mifuyu promised. “But don’t let me keep the two of you here. I’ll be fine, really.”

A look passed between the twins, one that Mifuyu couldn’t parse, and it made her feel alienated for a moment, left out in her own apartment. But the moment passed and the two of them nodded at her. “Very well,” Tsukuyo told her. “Will you be joining us for dinner tonight?”

Mifuyu wished she could read beyond that question. Was Tsukuyo asking because she was hoping to include Mifuyu, or was she wanting Mifuyu to say no so that she’d have time alone with Tsukasa? “I’m not sure,” Mifuyu answered noncommittally. “I made plans to drop by Mikazuki Villa this afternoon, and it’s possible I’ll end up staying there for dinner.”

“Well, we’ll be here if you don’t,” Tsukasa stated as she stepped closer, apparently unbothered. “And if you do, then we’ll see you later tonight!” She leaned forward suddenly and pecked Mifuyu on the check, startling the older girl.

“Do take care of yourself,” Tsukuyo urged before leaving her own kiss on Mifuyu’s opposite cheek. She took Tsukasa’s hand in her own and the two merrily stepped out the door of the cramped apartment, leaving a blushing Mifuyu in their wake.

The warmth in her gut from the sudden display of affection didn’t take long at all to turn to ice. She should never have started living with them. It had been a few months now since they had reached the age of majority and moved out from their parents’ awful households, at which time they’d approached Mifuyu with a certain proposition. And Mifuyu had been too desperately lonely to turn them down like she should have. She regretted that mistake daily.

Those sweet, beautiful girls were too good for her, too pure. She was going to mess this up.

She always did.

  
  


~ * ~ + ~ * ~ + ~ * ~

Penumbra  
A Magia Record Fanfiction

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“Your tea,” Yachiyo said with a smile, placing the drink gently on the table.

It was in Mifuyu’s personal mug, the one that she’d left behind at Mikazuki Villa, that Yachiyo had never gotten rid of after all this time. “Thanks, Yacchan.” She sipped lightly at the drink and let out a contented sigh. “You know exactly how I like it.”

“Your tastes haven’t changed at all.” Her tone was wry, but with that slight smile that said she was teasing. Yachiyo was smiling a lot these days, and it looked good on her.

“Neither has this place.” Mifuyu looked around to take in the sight of the former boarding-house. It had a timeless cozy quality to it that sucked you in and forced you into the house’s pace instead of your own. Mifuyu had fallen in love with this manor at first sight, this place that felt more like a home than her family’s house ever had.

“That’s not true at all,” Yachiyo disagreed. “A lot of the furniture has been replaced compared to eight years ago, which changes the entire aesthetic. It doesn’t support as many people as back when my grandmother was running the place. And the faces now are different from the ones back then.” She glanced at Sana and Ui, spread out on the floor murmuring to one another as they read a book together. As if to further drive in her point, Tsuruno picked that moment to stride into the common area with a whoop, Felicia clinging to her back and hollering as she tried to reach the purple popsicle that Tsuruno was holding just out of her reach, and Iroha trailing quickly behind cautioning the two of them not to make too much of a ruckus indoors.

This place truly was just as lively as ever. “But Yacchan, that’s all just superficial,” Mifuyu told her, raising her voice slightly to be heard over the ruckus, a smile playing at the edges of her mouth. “At its heart this place hasn’t changed one bit. It’s still a place of warmth and happiness, where lost and lonely girls can find a welcoming shelter. Everyone’s faces are still smiling and full of life.” She caught Yachiyo’s eye and couldn’t resist a teasing grin. “And there’s still a kind and beautiful woman running the place.”

Yachiyo had to put her mug down and put a hand over her face to hide a snort. “Kanae would be happy to hear you talk about Grandmother like that,” Yachiyo said once she’d gotten herself under control. “Sometimes I would swear that the real reason she teamed with us was to be closer to her.”

“Not her only reason, but certainly one of her reasons,” Mifuyu agreed. It was bittersweet to banter about the dead like that, but there was something freeing in how they’d come far enough that they could do that. The passings of Kanae and Granny Nanami had never quite stopped hurting, but now it was more of a gentle ache compared to the sting that it had once been. It surely would sting more if Mifuyu were anywhere else, with anyone else, but not here.

It really did feel just like old times. A bright and lively villa, and Yachiyo trying to look stern but melting into that warmth all the same. And Yachiyo had only grown more and more beautiful as she’d aged, even though Mifuyu had already thought she looked lovely at age twelve. Mifuyu just wanted to reach out and, just like old times, place a hand on Yacchan’s cheek and lean in close…

“Sorry that we’re so noisy,” Iroha spoke up, wrenching Mifuyu out of her thoughts. The pink-haired girl had broken off from Tsuruno and Felicia to join them, sliding up next to Yachiyo.

Mifuyu opened her mouth to tell her that it was no trouble, really, and… she snapped her jaw shut again. Yachiyo had just reached up and… just tenderly, _casually_ tucked a stray hair back behind Iroha’s ear. For just a moment the two’s gazes met and they beamed at each other with such… _incredible_ warmth, as though they were in their own world with just the two of them. Mifuyu’s stomach lurched, and abruptly this place didn’t feel like home anymore. What had she been thinking? Of course things had changed. Yachiyo had changed, their relationship had changed, and no amount of longing would reverse that and give Mifuyu back the love that she’d destroyed with her own hands.

Iroha and Yachiyo broke their gaze and turned to look at Mifuyu, and she forced her jaw to unstick. “It’s no trouble at all, really. The noise just makes this place feel more like a home.” The words that she would have meant just moments ago felt hollow now.

“I know what you mean,” Iroha said with a warm smile. “I’ve gotten so used to the hustle and bustle around here that I can’t imagine living alone with just my parents anymore.”

Mifuyu couldn’t imagine living with her parents ever again either. She’d probably been disowned by now, though for all intents and purposes she’d disowned them first. “Yes, I know just what you mean,” she agreed mildly. Was her smile still in place? It must have been, she could feel it in her cheeks.

“How are your studies going?” Yachiyo asked. Was she changing the subject because she sensed Mifuyu’s discomfort? And should that make her happy that Yacchan was paying attention to her, or terrified that she might be able to see right through her?

“Well enough. Difficult, but I’ve been getting lectures from Touka on the side, so I’m managing somehow.” Empty small talk, she could at least manage that much.

“That’s good to hear!” Iroha leaned forward, and her hand casually brushed against Yachiyo’s. Yachiyo’s expression brightened, and Mifuyu hated herself for paying so much attention to that. “Then, if you have time, would you like to stay for dinner? We’re having Yachiyo’s favorite tonight.”

Mifuyu opened her mouth, only to clamp it back down. _What would you know about Yacchan’s favorites?_ It was a stupid, petty comment, and of course Iroha knew all sorts of things about Yachiyo by now, she’d been living here for over a year. She was constantly at Yachiyo’s side, and she was now the one with the key to Yachiyo’s heart, the one that made Yachiyo smile, the one that Yachiyo shared her fears and dreams with. Mifuyu could recognize her jealousy for what it was.

And recognizing that jealousy just made the hole in her heart gape ever wider, because she knew that Iroha didn’t deserve any of the ugliness that Mifuyu was feeling toward her. Iroha had been nothing but kind, even now extending her friendship towards a monster like Mifuyu. When Mifuyu had tried to use the Memory Museum to tear Yachiyo down, Iroha had been the one to stand by Yachiyo’s side and support her. Iroha had saved Mifuyu’s _life_ by healing her fractured soul gem. She deserved every ounce of happiness that came her way. Mifuyu had no claim to Yachiyo anymore, had no position to dictate who Yachiyo could love, had no right to be upset if Yachiyo was taken.

Besides, Mifuyu was supposed to be taken too. God, she was awful.

“...I don’t know if I can stay for dinner,” Mifuyu finally said. Just, for now, keep the mask up. She could play off those moments of wallowing in self-hatred as careful consideration. “I… do have an exam coming up. I’m caught up for now, but I need to stay ahead in my studies. I can’t stay out too late right now.” She doubted she’d do any more studying tonight, but she couldn’t imagine eating here tonight. Not with how she was right now. She’d so been looking forward to spending time here at Mikazuki, but this had been a terrible mistake.

She was so good at making those.

“If you’re sure,” Yachiyo said with a gentleness that Mifuyu didn’t deserve. “Just remember that you’ve always got a room here, any time that you want it.”

Ha. A room. “Thank you, Yacchan.” Her smile was in place, the same one that she practiced in front of the mirror, no problem. “I mean that, really,” she lied.

  
  


~ * ~ + ~ * ~ + ~ * ~

  
  


“I’m home,” Mifuyu called softly when she got back to her apartment that evening. She was emotionally exhausted, but she’d managed to get back without further alienating any of the people that for some reason were still willing to call her a friend, so, that was something.

““Welcome back!””

Twin voices answered her, and she was surprised to find herself suddenly wrapped up in two pairs of warm arms. She slowly let herself sink into that comforting warmth. She could allow herself this much, right?

The hug ended far too soon, but she was tugged along by soft but firm grips around each of her arms. “Dinner’s just about finished,” Tsukasa announced. “Just wait a bit and we’ll have it ready for you! Right?” Mifuyu was shoved gently onto the couch, and Tsukasa reported back to the kitchen. She was wearing a cute apron with a heart on it, Mifuyu noted.

“Right. Or you could take a bath first, if that would be more to your liking,” Tsukuyo offered with polite kindness. “Or...” Tsukuyo trailed off and cleared her throat, looking vaguely uncomfortable.

Mifuyu could read between the lines. That famous newlyweds line came to mind: _Do you want a meal, a bath, or me?_ Even as a joke, Tsukuyo couldn’t actually bring herself to finish it. After all, in spite of their… _arrangement_ , Tsukuyo’s actual feelings were… well. “A meal sounds lovely,” Mifuyu said aloud, sparing Tsukuyo from having to explain herself.

“Then you can just sit there and relax while we finish up,” Tsukuyo told her with a reassuring smile before going to assist her twin in the kitchen.

They were making enough to feed three, Mifuyu idly noted. Even though she’d been upfront earlier that she might not be eating here tonight. Had they decided to make extra just in case, or had they realized how badly things would go even before Mifuyu had realized it? It was an ugly thought, but one that she couldn’t shake.

They were such good, earnest girls, incredibly hard workers that had long suffered under parents that gave even Mifuyu’s family a run for their money. Mifuyu had grown close to them in their time in the Wings of the Magius, and they were some of the only people that could truly relate to the guilt that she felt for her part in that group, but she’d never expected that one day they would approach her with a… romantic offer. Mifuyu had had an inkling that the girls looked at one another as more than sisters, but they came to her saying that they each had feelings about her and wanted to establish a relationship between the three of them…

It had shocked her, to be sure, but she realized the unspoken truth: having just disowned their respective families, they couldn’t possibly afford rent on their own. It was something that Mifuyu could well relate to, since she herself would never have been able to manage leaving her parents’ home without Touka’s generosity. The right thing to do would have been to turn down the relationship and tell the twins that she would gladly have them as roommates without any of that. And yet, she had been so lonely, so cold, and she’d wanted so badly to feel loved… so she’d said yes.

She really was awful.

“Dinner is served!”

Mifuyu blinked, the sudden announcement snapping her out of her thoughts. How long had she been wallowing in self-pity for? The tiny dining table had three plates already placed, and Tsukuyo and Tsukasa were just taking their seats. The smell of curry rice wafted across the room and coaxed a loud gurgle out of Mifuyu’s stomach, much to her embarrassment. She never ate half as well as when the twins prepared a meal for her. She hurried to the table so as not to keep the two of them waiting.

“Thank you very much for the food.” As expected, it was delicious. From the first bite she could feel warmth spreading through her, filling her bones.

“Good to see you have an appetite,” Tsukasa said cheerily. “You can’t be feeling _that_ bad if you can wolf down food like that, right?”

Mifuyu froze, then swallowed the food in her mouth even though it suddenly felt like a lead weight. “Was it… really that obvious that I was feeling down?”

Tsukuyo and Tsukasa glanced at each other, but whatever meaning was contained in that enigmatic look was lost to Mifuyu, leaving her feeling left out. Whatever it was they were trying to tell each other, Tsukuyo was the first to speak aloud. “Perhaps not to another observer, but it was obvious to us. After all, we know Mifuyu better than anyone else, right?”

“Right!” Tsukasa agreed. “We’re the experts on Mifuyu! There’s nothing you can slip past us. So help yourself to as much food as you want and feel better. Don’t worry about anything else!”

Mifuyu found that there was a lump in her throat. These girls. She wasn’t sure that it was true that they knew her better than Yachiyo, but they really did know how to read her. “You aren’t going to ask why?”

“You can tell us when you’re ready,” Tsukuyo assured her. “Until then, it’s fine. Truly.”

Was it, though? Mifuyu wasn’t sure she’d ever be ready. She couldn’t burden these beautiful girls with her ugly self-loathing. They’d already gone through quite enough, and she’d taken quite enough from them already. Surely they’d be better off without Mifuyu being in their way all the time.

But she didn’t say any of that. She just nodded and thanked them. The dinner conversation turned to lighter subjects after that, making small talk about the weather (it had been unseasonably brisk lately), talking about Tsukasa’s bike (it was practically falling apart from all the use that Tsukasa got out of out of riding it all over the city at speeds that were honestly probably illegal, but she refused to replace it), discussing gossip (Touka still hadn’t figured out that the snobby rich kid from Nemu’s latest publication had been a friendly snub at Touka herself), and so forth. Mifuyu tried to participate, but the conversation continued on just fine even when she didn’t speak.

After dinner she grabbed her notes and her textbooks and migrated back to the couch, spreading out across the coffee table. She really did need to get some studying done, but more importantly, it was an excuse to hide from social interactions. She was just too exhausted to deal with any more of that today.

The words swam in front of her eyes. She really was tired, but she wasn’t ready to throw in the towel just yet.

She just… had to… focus…

  
  


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“How does this look?”

Yacchan stood at the edge of the lake, the water up to her ankles. The moon was rising behind her, its reflection casting a line of silver across the lake’s surface. She was wearing a breathtaking summer dress with a shade of deep blue that matched the night sky. Half of her face was visible as she stood poised, her years as a model showing in her elegant bearing, her hair flowing out freely behind her in the wind.

“Beautiful.”

Yacchan’s lips quirked upwards in a small, knowing smile. “You’re such a flatterer.”

“You’re an easy person to flatter, Yacchan. You’re a natural beauty to begin with, and you’ve worked hard to be a top model on top of that, not to mention coming out to a backdrop like this. It’s hardly even fair. Any girl would be jealous of you.”

Yacchan laughed, eyes crinkling with joy, and she reached out with a beckoning arm. “You of all people have no reason to be jealous.” Yacchan grabbed her hand and pulled her close. “After all,” Yachiyo whispered in her ear in a breathy voice, “all of this beauty belongs to you. Along with my heart.”

That’s right. This was how it was supposed to be. Yacchan’s fingers traced their way up her jawline, eyes closing delicately, lips moving in for a kiss…

Mifuyu pulled away suddenly, sharply. “No,” she choked out.

Yacchan looked surprised, hurt. “What’s wrong?” She moved to follow Mifuyu, arms reaching out to embrace her, but Mifuyu held out a hand, keeping her at bay.

“No,” she repeated, though it felt like she was tearing out her heart to say the word. “No. This… it isn’t right. I can’t do this.”

Yachiyo looked at her thoughtfully, but didn’t approach any closer. “It’s fine. You can do anything you want. This is what you wished for, after all. In your dreams, you can be free.”

Mifuyu bit back choking, self-mocking laughter. Yes, that’s right. Freedom, at least in her dreams. That was the stupid, stupid wish she had made. She hadn’t understood back then, not the way she did now. In her dreams she could be free from her life, her family, her responsibilities, her enemies, her friends. She could have whatever she wanted.

But even then, she could never be free of herself. She was only as free as she allowed herself to be. And there was no one that judged Mifuyu harder than Mifuyu herself.

“Yachiyo is with Iroha now,” Mifuyu said somberly. “She isn’t mine anymore. I… I ruined that. I ran away, hid from her. Schemed against her. Jealously tried to take away the bonds that she made without me. She’s forgiven me, accepted me as her friend again, but… we’ll never have _this_ , not now.”

“It’s okay.” The voice wasn’t Yachiyo’s this time. Mifuyu turned around, and there, standing at the steps of Mikazuki Villa, was Iroha. “I know that you’ve been by Yachiyo’s side for much longer than I have. I never meant to steal her. All you have to do is ask, and I’ll get out of your way.”

Mifuyu’s fingernails bit sharply into her palms. She knew that these words were coming from herself. On some level, this was what she wanted. But she didn’t deserve to have what she wanted. “That’s not what the real Iroha would say. She’d never give up on anything that mattered. And, even if she would, I could never do that to her. It wouldn’t be right.”

“Che palle, look at you, worrying about such trash as ‘right’ or not.”

Another new voice, one that Mifuyu knew well. She didn’t turn to look this time, didn’t _want_ to look. She could hear footsteps behind her, getting closer.

“You don’t have to worry about what’s right in your dream. Capito? Just say it, what is it that you _want_?” Alina’s voice was at Mifuyu’s ear, her breath on Mifuyu’s neck. Arms reached possessively around Mifuyu’s body, one drawing across to rest on the opposite hip and the other reaching around her chest to clutch her cheek. Mifuyu went perfectly still, though she felt her skin crawling. “Do you want pleasure? Praise? Worship? Without strings, without attachment, without guilt? Wouldn’t that be wonderful, my _corpo perfetto_?”

Shivers ran down Mifuyu’s spine. She squeezed her eyes shut, trembling. “Get away,” she whispered faintly. It almost surprised her that Alina actually did as she said, withdrawing her hands, but of course she would; this was still Mifuyu’s dream. Still, the sensation of being touched lingered, and the nausea with it.

It was true that in the past, Alina had worshiped her body. Hers was truly an unconditional love, she asked nothing of Mifuyu in return, but it was only Mifuyu’s _body_ that she loved. Mifuyu the person was just extra baggage that came with the body. And yet… In her loneliness, that had been enough to ensnare her. Objectification though it may have been, she had welcomed the attention, even from such cruel hands. Even now, the thought was tempting, _intoxicating_ , even though it made her sick.

“Not her,” Mifuyu pleaded. “Someone else.” She opened her eyes, and the landscape of Kamihama had faded away, leaving only an empty gray plane stretching out into the darkness. A ring of figures surrounded her. Yachiyo, Iroha, and Alina, she turned away from.

Next was Kanagi, radiating confidence, power, and indifference. “Would you have someone strong, that you respect, but that you barely know, that would never _truly_ love you in the waking world?”

She couldn’t meet Kanagi’s gaze. She turned, meeting Kanae’s familiar eyes, a face she hadn’t seen in so long. “You don’t need to think so hard. Whatever it is you want, isn’t it fine? Someone that you once knew, even if they didn’t feel that way about you…”

No. Not Kanae. She couldn’t go back to those times, she _couldn’t_ , it hurt so much. She turned, completing the circle, coming to the last two figures.

Tsukuyo and Tsukasa. Those sweet girls, her supposed girlfriends. Even in her dreams, the two of them clung to each other in an unspoken statement of trust, love, intimacy. They’d never held Mifuyu like that.

“Of course not,” Tsukasa spoke up, answering Mifuyu’s thoughts. “I love Tsukuyo, not you. You’re just a useful rent check.”

“It’s truly a shame to say, but you really are just in the way,” Tsukuyo added. “Pray tell, what do you even want? What is it that you’re looking to find here?”

“I just–!” The words spilled out and then stopped, Mifuyu’s voice breaking. She hugged herself tightly, her arms shaking.

“I just… I just want to be loved!”

The faces around her all blurred as tears filled her eyes. “I just want someone that cares for me. I want my feelings to be returned.” She squeezed her eyes shut, and even without seeing she could feel the other figures getting farther away.

“But I… I don’t deserve that. I’m such a terrible, awful person. Stained with sins and blood. Being alone and miserable is exactly what I deserve.”

She opened her eyes again, and there was nothing and nobody there. Just an endless expanse of darkness.

“But… I wish that… someone could love me.”

  
  


~ * ~ + ~ * ~ + ~ * ~

  
  


Mifuyu’s eyes opened blearily. She couldn’t see much, it was still so _dark_ , clearly the middle of the night. But she was awake now. She sighed. Her neck was stiff, having slept in an awkward position.

Actually… now that she was noticing, she was still on the couch. She must have nodded off while studying and never made it to bed. But, something was strange. Certainly, she had accidentally fallen asleep on the couch.

So why was there a blanket draped over her?

Something shifted under the blanket, and Mifuyu froze up. There was something else under the blanket, something warm, leaning against her. She squinted in the darkness, focusing to try to make out the vague shape of her blanket. It was too lumpy, there was something… no there were _two_ somethings underneath it.

The answer should have been obvious, but her mind rejected the possibility. Surely not. They wouldn’t possibly… Slowly and carefully, she lifted up the cover and peered beneath.

Tsukuyo and Tsukasa were there, nestled up against Mifuyu on either side, each extending an arm across Mifuyu’s body as though to shelter her. She felt a lump welling up in her throat, and her eyes burned. These girls. These precious, _precious_ girls.

One of them, she couldn’t tell them apart in this lighting, murmured something quietly and opened her eyes. She blinked a few times, met Mifuyu’s gaze and… smiled. “Mornin’, Mif’yu,” Tsukasa said, her voice giving it away. Then she frowned. “I think. ‘s pretty early, seems like.”

Mifuyu swallowed down the lump in her throat. “Why aren’t you in bed?” she managed to ask.

Tsukasa gave her an odd look. “Cuz. We couldn’t just leave you alone out here. Right?”

“Right,” Tsukuyo answered, much to Mifuyu’s surprise. It was only now that Tsukuyo’s eyes slowly opened and looked up at her. “You looked so terribly sad and lonely in your sleep. Certainly, that was something that we could not simply turn away from.”

It was altogether too much. “You didn’t have to,” Mifuyu insisted.

The two sisters shared a look, another one of those secret exchanges that Mifuyu wasn’t privy to. Then they nodded as one and turned their attention back to Mifuyu, gazing up at her while half-sprawled across her body.

“Mifuyu,” Tsukuyo began, “Tsukasa and I have been discussing something, as of late.”

Mifuyu’s heart missed a beat. Was this it, then? They had finally decided that they didn’t need Mifuyu? The very idea hurt, it hurt _so much_ , but all the same it was almost a relief that it would all be over with soon.

“There’s a matter that I don’t believe you quite realize. Mifuyu, are you aware of the reason that the two of us are here?”

Here? Did she mean here on this couch tonight? No, she probably meant here in this apartment, right? “It’s… because you needed a place that you can stay away from your parents, right?” she asked, voicing the suspicion that she’d harbored for so long.

Tsukuyo’s expression melted into… sympathy? Tsukasa grabbed Mifuyu’s attention by taking Mifuyu’s hand in both of hers, and spoke up. “We’re still here today because you _saved our lives_. If you hadn’t been there after Tsukuyo’s Doppel woke up, we’d probably have both given in to despair a long time ago. But you took us in and saved us.”

Mifuyu shook her head sharply. “No, that’s not–! I didn’t, I was the one that dragged you into that debacle, I forced you to take part in all that, I–”

“You saved us, truly,” Tsukuyo echoed, taking hold of Mifuyu’s other hand. “You cared about us and all of the other Feathers, you did everything you could to protect us, even when you were hurting so badly yourself.”

“You stayed with us when everything went pear-shaped at the end,” Tsukasa added.

“You are an incredible person, Mifuyu, filled with kindness.”

No. She wasn’t. “I’m not,” she choked out. She could barely see, her vision obscured not only by the darkness but by the burning tears that were overflowing and drawing streaks of fire down her face. “I’m… I’m _awful_. I did so many terrible things, I’m so full of _hate_.” It was all spilling out now, the thoughts and feelings that she’d bundled up and tried to bury were pouring forth. “I’m a selfish, tainted, _monster_ , I–”

“You’re beautiful,” Tsukasa told her.

“Inside and out,” Tsukuyo agreed.

“Right?”

“Right.”

Hands cupped her face, wiping away tears. “I-I don’t understand,” she managed to say, half-sobbing. “Wh, why are you so n-nice to me? I’m just, I’m always, in your way. You could be t-together, but you have to, put up with, me.”

A moment passed, another cryptic glance between the twins. Hands, she wasn’t sure whose, tilted Mifuyu’s chin, and… soft, warm lips pressed firmly against hers. Her eyes widened in shock. The kiss continued, full of conviction and affection, a gesture that went well-beyond those chaste pecks that they’d exchanged up to now, and Mifuyu found herself melting into it.

At last the contact ended, and Tsukuyo’s face pulled away. “You have never been ‘in the way’, Mifuyu. I thought we made that clear when we confessed to you. We’ve already loved you for some time now.”

Mifuyu’s head was a mess, thoughts and feelings scrambled in every direction. _Loved?_ Tsukuyo _loved_ her? She’d never said it before, not directly like that, and… this was all so _much_ , Mifuyu didn’t, she didn’t know what to… “I, I thought that you…”

“We didn’t want to push you,” Tsukasa murmured, pressing in closely as she coiled her arms around Mifuyu in a tight embrace. “This is new for us too, right? We didn’t want to make you uncomfortable. But I guess we messed up, made you think the wrong thing. We’re gonna have to make it up to you.” She peppered Mifuyu’s neck with tender kisses, sending wonderful shivers up and down her spine.

“These are our true feelings, Mifuyu.” Tsukuyo stroked Mifuyu’s cheek, gentle and affectionate. “We love you. We’ll cherish and protect you. We _want_ you. So, once more: will you accept us?”

Mifuyu shivered. These precious girls were tearing down all of her walls. “But I… I don’t _deserve_ –”

“You deserve the world,” Tsukasa disagreed, whispering into her ear. “And we’ll give you as much as we can.” She pulled back now, separating just enough that she could meet Mifuyu’s eyes. “Please.”

They were both staring at her, their gazes pleading. She swallowed several times, trying to find her words. She’d thought about this, over and over. She needed to turn them down, for their own good. She always ruined everything she touched. She had to be strong, she had to tell them no…

But their eyes, so full of love, were unyielding. She couldn’t run from those eyes. “Is it really okay…? For me to be this happy?” she asked, no, she begged them.

A pair of accepting smiles were her answer. “It is so.” “That’s right!”

Mifuyu shivered again and nodded. It was terrifying to have hope. Terrifying and intoxicating. “Then… alright. I’ll… I’ll believe in your love.” She smiled at them, a real smile that she had no need to fake. “Please take care of me.”

At once Tsukasa leaned in, her lips capturing Mifuyu’s. She was more forceful than her sister had been, pushing in fiercely, and… “Mm?!” Something pushed inside Mifuyu’s mouth, and her voice escaped in her surprise. Her body was heating up, she could _taste_ Tsukasa, a taste unique from anyone else she’d kissed, and Tsukasa was _exploring_ her, stealing her breath and her thoughts as well…

When at last Tsukasa pulled back Mifuyu was left gasping for air. That had been… good. She shivered. That had been _really_ good. Just how much practice did Tsukasa have at kissing? Tsukuyo leaned in close, and Mifuyu shivered again at the thought that Tsukuyo would, of course, have exactly as much kissing practice as Tsukasa.

“Is this okay?” Tsukuyo asked softly as she ran a hand over Mifuyu’s ear and through her hair. “If it’s too much, we can stop.”

Too much? Mifuyu was already overflowing, her emotions spilling out over the top after all the love that the twins were pouring into her. But she still wanted more. “It’s fine,” she assured her… her loving _girlfriend_. To prove it, she leaned forward and went in for another kiss.

Tsukuyo willingly obliged, pushing back more calmly than her twin but no less insistently, her tongue smoothly pushing its way past Mifuyu’s defenses to feel out her mouth inch by inch. Mifuyu welcomed her in, surrendering herself to the younger girl’s incursion. It felt so _right_ , it was everything that she’d been longing for, what she hadn’t even dared to dream of. If only this moment could last forever…

But the moment came to an abrupt end as soft hands brushed against the bare skin of Mifuyu’s stomach, drawing a squeak out of her that was swallowed up by Tsukuyo’s lips. Her blouse was being lifted up, hands running across her smooth flesh… That, it had to be Tsukasa’s hands, feeling their way up Mifuyu’s ribs… f-fondling her breasts! She moaned hard, squirming, but Tsukuyo had her hands around the back of Mifuyu’s head and wasn’t letting her escape from this kiss. She was being overwhelmed by this two-pronged attack, losing herself in sensation and emotion, and it wasn’t until she felt something warm and _wet_ on her nipple that she realized that her bra had been stripped away.

Another moan that she couldn’t hold back, and at last Tsukuyo released her. It was a short-lived relief, as Tsukuyo left a trail of kisses across her chin and neck as she made her way to join her sister at Mifuyu’s breasts, fondling and suckling in unison. Mifuyu’s hands found the twins’ heads, but she couldn’t figure out if she was trying to push them away or pull them closer. “Nn… no, d… don’t li– don’t look!”

Tsukasa pulled her face from Mifuyu’s chest, though her fingers continued their ministrations. “But, Mifuyu,” she panted in a breathy voice, and good lord, realizing how worked up Tsukasa was just made it even harder for Mifuyu to hold herself together. “You’re beautiful.”

Visions of Alina’s face flashed across Mifuyu’s vision, coldly praising her for her perfect body without an ounce of love for the person inside that body. But… this was different. She was loved here, truly loved, with a fire hot enough to scorch her. She willfully banished those chilling thoughts of the past, focusing on the present, and the overwhelming, _wonderful_ thing these girls were doing to her body–

And she yelped as searching fingers slipped past her waistline and into her panties. “Th-that’s–!”

“We’ll show you,” Tsukasa promised eagerly. “We’ll love you until you realize how beautiful you are.”

“Yes, indeed,” Tsukuyo agreed, her lips parting with Mifuyu’s nipple just long enough to get the words out.

Fingertips brushed against her folds and a surge of pleasure flowed through her body, drawing out another moan. A small, morbidly embarrassed part of her that was still trying to be rational noted that she was already wet, and was only getting wetter as her most tender of places was rubbed with care. Her face felt like a torch, both because she was embarrassed and _really_ turned on. She’d never thought she’d feel this way with anyone but Yacchan, but these girls… these girls!

And yet, the motion of those fingers was slowing down, agonizingly. “Wh-what’s wrong?”

Tsukuyo was frowning, just a bit. “It is difficult to move with these clothes in the way… Tsukasa, if you would?”

Tsukasa went in for another passionate, wild kiss, dashing Mifuyu’s thoughts. It was an excellent distraction, but she still noticed as her shorts and underwear were yanked down her legs, leaving no barrier between the cool fabric of the couch and her exposed rear. Tsukasa pulled away from the kiss, but Mifuyu wasn’t left wanting for long. As if to make up for baring her skin, the twins pressed ever closer, and the smooth, electrifying sensation of bare skin against bare skin made her suddenly aware that they weren’t any more dressed than she was. She wasn’t even quite sure when they had stripped down, she’d been too consumed with how they were making her feel to notice, but she certainly noticed _now_ , the feel of their warm skin against her body searing itself into her brain. The sensation of Tsukuyo’s soft breasts pushing into her pert, sensitive nipple, Tsukasa’s hands clamped around her ample butt, the smooth flesh of Tsukuyo’s belly pressed into her side, Tsukasa’s legs entwined around Mifuyu’s own and a wet, burning-hot patch on her thigh where Tsukasa’s crotch rested…

Mifuyu’s breath was hot and heavy as the girls squirmed against her. Hands reached between her legs again, and fingers pulled her slit open, sending shivers all the way up her spine. She reflexively tried to close her legs but they were bound by Tsukasa and Tsukuyo, each sitting atop one. Two matching expressions of lusty passion looked up at her, and her breath caught in her throat, her anticipation palpable as probing fingers explored her hot, wet folds. Her hands settled on the twins’ cute, perky butts, bracing herself for what was to come. Tsukuyo’s expression changed, her smile widening, and Mifuyu knew that she’d found what she was looking for.

A finger plunged into Mifuyu’s depths, swiftly followed by a second. A wave of pleasure crashed over her, and she wasn’t sure _what_ sound she made as she threw her head back. She _did_ hear the twins squeak as her hands clenched down on their cheeks, squeezing deeply into the cushiony softness of their rears. Not that she had much chance to dwell on those sounds when the fingers inside of her started moving, caressing her inner walls. She, she couldn’t _think_ , her breath was coming in gasps, there were fingers rubbing the outside of her folds in sync with the ones inside her and it was driving her _mad_.

Wet sloppy sounds made her look down, and she saw the twins kissing each other, passionately and messily, their faces flushed. That was… that was quite a sight. Mifuyu’s hips bucked, grinding against the fingers that were pleasuring her. It was so _good_. The twins broke apart, saliva trailing between their lips, and looked back at her, Tsukasa with a giggle and Tsukuyo with a knowing smile.

“Is this okay?” Tsukuyo asked, and she felt the fingers down there slow down. “Shall we keep going?”

A groan of desperation escaped Mifuyu. This wasn’t fair, they couldn’t bring her this far and tease her like this. “P, please! Keep… keep going! I want you t– _eep!”_ A surge of pleasure cut her off, scrambling her thoughts. That, that was her clit! They were pushing against it, and the stimulation rocked through her body.

“As you wish,” Tsukasa whispered in her ear, and Mifuyu moaned to hold back from screaming.

She couldn’t keep up, it was all she could do to try to stay sane as these girls worked on her. The fingers inside her were finding all her weak spots, scraping out pleasure spots she didn’t even know she had, while the fingers on the outside relentlessly attacked her clit. Her hips were quivering, the pleasure was shooting through her body and overwhelming her mind, and she didn’t even know what kind of face she was making now. She was coiled up in a mass of warm flesh as Tsukuyo and Tsukasa wrapped around her, grinding against her legs, pressing their breasts against her own, moaning along with her. Their cries just spurred her along further, and she felt herself slipping.

Something was coming, she could feel it. “Y, Y-Yach–” She cut off into a squeal of pleasure as fingers _twisted_ inside of her. They were the wrong sounds anyway. She squeezed her eyes shut as the pleasure assailed her, and a face framed with dark blue hair appeared in her mind’s eye for a moment… But a mouth pressed tightly against hers, licking at her lips, and then _another_ mouth squeezed in, the three of them all mingling together, and the image scattered. These two lavender-haired beauties were her entire world right now, burying her in such sensations that she couldn’t think straight.

“Tsu–ah! Tsuku, Tsuk _eep!_ Mngh!”

It was too much. Someone pinched down on her clit, fingers jerked within her, and her entire world went white. She lost it, screaming with pleasure, her insides convulsing, riding that wave of ecstasy as it consumed her. It seemed to last for an eternity, and then, finally, all the tension left her body as she slumped back into the couch. She didn’t feel like she could move a muscle, or string two thoughts together, or do anything other than just lie there in a sweaty heap, basking in that blessed warmth.

Two warm bodies were pressed up against her, cheeks pressed against her cheeks, and in her semiconscious state she heard a pair of mirrored voices.

““We love you, Mifuyu.””

And she let herself believe it.

  
  


~ * ~ + ~ * ~ + ~ * ~

  
  


Mifuyu woke up to the smell of bacon sizzling in the pan. She groaned and shifted position, trying to find a more comfortable way to lie. This… was not her bed. This was the couch. Right, she had fallen asleep while studying, and…

Blood rushed to her face as she remembered what she’d done with her girlfriends last night. Had they really…? No, there was no way. That _must_ have been a dream, an elaborate fantasy that she’d concocted to make herself feel better. She could already feel familiar guilt swelling up, how _could_ she think about those precious girls in such a manner, had she no shame?

Nothing to do now but face reality. As usual, the twins had been the first to rise, still waking to the schedules they were accustomed to from living with those families that overworked them. Stifling a yawn, Mifuyu put aside the blanket and stood up groggily. Hm, it was a bit chilly this morning…

“Oh, Mifuyu!” Tsukuyo greeted happily from the kitchen. Mifuyu turned at the sound of her voice. “Good morning to you. Oh! Um, you…” For some reason she blushed and averted her eyes.

Tsukasa, who seemed to be in charge of handling the bacon, spared a glance at Mifuyu and grinned. She blushed, too, but her gaze slid over Mifuyu’s body for a couple of long moments before she looked back to the bacon on the stove. “Mornin’, Mifuyu! Looking good!”

Looking good…? Rubbing sleep out of her eyes, Mifuyu looked down at herself…

And then quickly grabbed the blanket and held it tight over her body. Her very _bare_ body. Oh god, her face felt like it was on _fire_. What had happened to her clothes? Was it possible that… last night hadn’t been a dream after all? Or she could still be dreaming, but… No, she quickly disproved that with a simple exertion of will. Her wish gave her freedom in her dreams, so since her clothes _didn’t_ immediately materialize over her body she could safely say that she wasn’t dreaming.

Which meant that last night had been _real_. Oh. Oh dear. Her face, if possible, turned even redder. That was… quite a lot to take in! Trying to cover herself felt a little silly after everything that they had done last night. Tsukuyo and Tsukasa had already seen her everything, and… done quite a lot more than just _see_ , for that matter.

Tsukuyo seemed to understand, though, as she walked over and helped tie the blanket around Mifuyu like a makeshift dress. “That should do it,” Tsukuyo said with a satisfied nod when she was done. “And… I do hope that we didn’t go too far. Last night, that is. It was very forward of us, and I truly don’t want you to feel uncomfortable or pressured in any way...”

“It’s fine,” Mifuyu assured her. “More than fine. I… enjoyed it. So… thank you.”

“If you liked it, you can pay us back next time!” Tsukasa called teasingly from the kitchen. Mifuyu was sure that her face would _never_ stop blushing, but Tsukasa’s ears were red too despite all of her bluster, so there was plenty of that going around right now.

“I should get dressed,” Mifuyu said, excusing herself and fleeing the room. She needed a moment to get herself together. Tsukuyo and Tsukasa had assured her that they _loved_ her, a word not to be used lightly. And they had made a… very compelling argument to back it up. Just thinking about it gave her shivers. Very compelling indeed.

So, she’d been wrong. She ought to be used to that by now, after all the wrong choices she’d made. And yet, she’d never been happier to be wrong.

Not that this changed everything. She knew, even as she dressed herself, that the familiar guilt was still within reach, an old companion not so easily escaped. She’d made such a mess of things in the past. She still felt pangs in her heart for Yacchan, a lovely dream that a part of her heart still yearned for even though the dream was unattainable. It still wasn’t easy to love herself.

But when she returned, properly clothed now, she was greeted by Tsukuyo and Tsukasa at the dining table, breakfast served and waiting for her. They’d even set a mug of her favorite tea out for her. She was loved here, and it felt like she had a place where she _belonged_ , something she wasn’t sure she’d ever have again. It wasn’t in Mikazuki Villa, the house of the crescent moon, but here, in this cozy apartment basking in the light of these twin moons.

“Good morning once again, Mifuyu.” “We made breakfast for you, Mifuyu!”

Mifuyu took her place at the table and smiled. She wanted to make sure that this relationship worked, so there was just one thing for it. She had to be clear about her feelings, no hiding behind a mask.

“I love you both.”


End file.
